Teaching more than 1 with Harvey?

[Kathy]

How do you teach more than 1 child with Harvey's Grammar. I have a 5th grader, 3rd, & 2nd. I'm still deciding whether to use Rod & Staff or Harvey's. Is Harvey's going to be difficult to implement with 3 kids on 3 different levels? Any advice?

Thanks,
Kathy

[Tracy Gustilo]

Hi Kathy,

I would say it probably depends on your teaching style, what you want for your kids, and where you are at yourself in your own grammar studies.

Harvey's Elementary could be taught at the board or "seminar" style mostly to your fifth grader with the younger two listening in and participating as they are able. (I find very young children to have vastly different attention spans and ability to grasp grammatical concepts.) If you combine with CW, you can do a grammar lesson from Harvey's, then apply to sentences (simplified as necessary) drawn from the model.

If you want to be able to assign work to individual children to work more independently, or at different levels, or if you are focusing more on your younger children, or if your own background is less secure, you may find Rod and Staff easier to manage on a day to day basis.

Or, you could combine. Use Rod and Staff (or a "gentle" type grammar like English for the Thoughtful Child or Simply Grammar or Mother Tongue) for the youngers, and dig in with Harvey's with your fifth grader. Or wait on the youngers altogether. They could do the simple grammar things in CW-Aesop, for example.

HTH,
Tracy